William
Watson never thought much about ghosts or believed they could move him. But
the legend of 57 Irish railroad workers buried in a common grave has haunted
the Media resident and college professor since the day he learned the story
of Duffy's Cut.

Watson,
chairman of history and politics at Immaculata University, has studied the
official railroad file of the tragedy. He unexpectedly came upon the
documents last year among his grandfather's artifacts. He also has read with
interest accounts of ghost sightings at the site of the mass grave on the
Main Line.The tragic tale concerns 57 Irish
railroad workers whose work site became their gravesite in the early 1800s,
during a little known chapter in local history. Located along a stretch of
railroad track west of Malvern, Duffy's Cut takes its name from a contractor
named Duffy who hired a group of newly arrived Irish immigrants in the summer
of 1832. Their labor was needed to clear a path through hilly terrain, making
way for the westbound tracks of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad,
horse-drawn at the time.Watson suspects the men were
single, perhaps "extra" sons not in line to inherit the family
estate who came to America in search of work and opportunity.
"But their American dream lasted no more than six weeks," said
Watson's colleague, Irish history Professor John Ahtes. Before the summer was over a horrible fate befell them. Living in a
large shanty beside a ravine, all 57 became victims of a cholera epidemic
that swept through the Delaware Valley that year, taking 900 lives and
causing widespread panic.
A bacterial infection, cholera is usually contracted from contaminated water.
The harrowing symptoms include acute vomiting and diarrhea, with subsequent
dehydration and sometimes death. There were no effective treatments in the
early 1800s.
The workmen turned to nearby residents for help when the scourge first
struck, but according to now deceased local historian Julian F. Sachses the
fear of contagion was so great "every house was closed against
fugitives, no one was found willing to give them food or shelter." Only the contractor's blacksmith,
name unknown, and several Sisters of Charity sent from Philadelphia braved
exposure to minister to the sick. But without proper treatment the Irishmen
soon succumbed and the blacksmith was left the grim task of dragging their
bodies across the ravine and burying them in a ditch he dug himself, without
a proper funeral. (Even more gruesome, Ahtes suspects some of the men may
have been in a death-like coma from severe dehydration when buried.)Watson and Ahtes suspect anti-Irish,
anti-Catholic sentiment prevalent at the time factored into the community's
deplorable response. St. Mary's Church was set on fire the previous year in
New York, and riots in which 150 Irish were killed broke out in Philadelphia
in the 1840s. Even the Sisters were forced to walk back to Philadelphia
without food or water following their mission of mercy at Duffy's Cut.Watson believes the railroad
tried to cover up the entire incident. Because the men weren't citizens, no
death certificates were ever filed. Work resumed that winter without further
acknowledgment of the atrocity. But the story of Duffy's Cut was
never buried. The site earned an eerie
reputation through tales of supernatural encounters and ghostly apparitions
that lived on in local legend and lore. Sachse wrote, "It is a
matter of fact that for years the immediate locality was shunned by many
residents of the vicinity under the belief that the spot was haunted, and
many gruesome tales were told of ghostly sights, which it was claimed were
seen in the hollow by the roadside."

Ghostly visions

The most vivid account appears in
an interview Sachse conducted with an elderly resident in 1889. This resident
insisted he had seen the Irishmens' ghosts dancing on their grave as he
walked along the tracks one night, about a month after they died.
"It's true Mister, it was awful. They looked as if they were a kind of
green and blue fire, and there they were a hopping and bobbing on their
graves. ... I was too scared to run, and there I stood a knocking my knees
together and the ghosts advancing and groaning all the time." And rest
assured, the gentleman insisted that he "hadn't been drinking no whiskey
either."Sometime in the 1870s, after the
Philadelphia Columbia Railroad was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad,
workers who knew the legend of Duffy's Cut took up the cause of the
unfortunate crew. A group raised enough money to install a fence around the
area where they believed the bodies were buried, and the railroad tried to
maintain it for some time. By 1909, however, the wood had
deteriorated, and then assistant supervisor Martin Clement had a square stone
enclosure built as a more permanent memorial, which remains there to this
day.Clement, who later became
president of the company, was extremely interested in the story. He created a
file on Duffy's Cut, (No. 004.01 "C") which contains
correspondence, articles, inquiries, and memos.Clement's assistant, the late
Joseph Tripician, was allowed to keep the file when PRR merged with New York
Central Railroad in 1968 to become Penn Central. Tripician was Watson's
grandfather.Although it was in his family for
many years, Watson didn't discover the file until recently, while going
through memorabilia with his brother Frank in August 2002.
He became mesmerized by the story and the site's proximity to Immaculata's
campus-only minutes away.Watson, his brother Frank and a
friend named Tom Conner, all members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
searched the area until they located the 3 ½ foot high, 8 x 8 foot redoubt
that marks the grave. Once wild and rocky, shaded by mountain laurel and
rhododendron, the site currently abuts two condo developments -Sugartown
Ridge and Erin's Glen.One of Watson's gravest concerns,
however, is that this unfortunate group of Irishmen may actually lie beneath
the tracks of the R-5 commuter line.

A shift of the tracks

According to at least one
article, by Alden W. Quimby of Berwyn from 1909, the railroad realigned the
tracks in the 1880s to smooth out the Sugartown Curve. An elderly farmer told
Quimby that "the unmarked graves, unknown to the constructors were
covered by the new roadbed." This resident thought the original fence
was mistakenly placed around a mound left "by the extraction of a huge
stump." "For almost every minute
ponderous trains roll and rumble over the real resting place of the cholera
victims," the farmer added somberly. Watson has an old Pennsylvania
Railroad comparative lines map that verifies the man's story. According to
Pennsylvania State law, "no bodies can be permitted to lie under any
existing structure," Watson said. "Forensic archaeologists could
tell whether this is the case."Watson sent a letter to the
Pennsylvania Historical Commission last February, describing the situation
and suggesting that a state historical marker be placed on King Street in
Malvern to properly commemorate the Irishmen. He also wants to
"investigate their whereabouts with an eye to perhaps re-interring them
in consecrated ground."
"I know they'd want that. That's what I'd want. It seems like it has to
be done," Watson said. "What happened isn't moral."Such an investigation would also
provide definitive evidence concerning details of the story. The East Whitemarsh Historical
Commission, for example, posted a sign acknowledging the site several years
ago. It states that the men died of Black Diptheria in 1834 and that nuns and
mules are buried there as well. Watson learned EWHC had scant information
from a newspaper article published a half-century ago about a man who was
searching for the graves.In addition to outrage, sympathy,
and a sense of kinship, Watson is driven by what he now thinks may have been
a first-hand encounter with the Irishmen's restive spirits.
He and Connor claim they had a strange experience while returning from a
piping engagement in Lancaster on a rainy September night in 2000, when they
made a rest stop at Immaculata before heading home. (Both play bagpipes in
full Celtic attire at Irish gatherings, and have done so for over two
decades.) Conner said he was looking out a
window on the lower level of the Faculty Center, when he noticed odd lights
shining on the lawn. "What am I looking at?" he asked Watson.
"Probably lawn art," Watson said of the elongated glowing shapes in
staggered formation outside. But as they watched, the radiance
suddenly vanished and the scene outside the window went dark. "It was
then we got really scared," Watson said. They searched the area
thoroughly, but there were no lamps or streetlights that could
have been a source of the strange iridescence, Conner said."I don't know what we saw.
It was there and vanished. I don't believe in ghosts or aliens. But I do
believe there could be some attempt to reach out," Watson said.
"Tom and I were wearing kilts and full piping attire. In a flight of
fancy one might wonder if some of those men who died nearby so tragically 168
years earlier came out across the fields to 'connect' with fellow Celts
wearing kilts near the anniversary of their demise."
And like the elderly resident in Sasche's interview, Watson solemnly stated
he hadn't any whiskey either.

Professor William Watson is circulating a
petition in support of establishing a historical marker in Malvern to
commemorate the 57 Irishmen who died at Duffy's Cut.

Mystery Deaths of 19th Century Rail WorkersBy Sean O'Driscoll
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp A CORONER and district attorney are standing by in Pennsylvania as two history professors prepare to dig up 57 Irish railroad workers who they believe were murdered by 19th century anti-Irish bigots.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The Pennsylvania Police Emerald Society has now pitched in to protect the mass gravesite and is negotiating with Amtrak to allow for more tests on the land where the men are buried.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspUnder Pennsylvania law, a coroner and district attorney's office must be contact in suspicious death cases -- even ones that are more than 170 years old.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspTwo history professors at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania have made a detailed study of the case, and believe that a railroad corporation may have destroyed files on the deaths to stop the truth from emerging.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe 57, who died in 1832, are officially listed as cholera victims, but the railroad corporation hid the records for decades.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe project has become a passion for professors William Watson and John Ahtes of Immaculata College, who have made a huge search of state and national records to uncover the men's identities. A Pennsylvania cemetery has volunteered individual graveyard spaces for all the men when their bodies are exhumed, and Irish graduate students have also been recruited to investigate the men's backgrounds.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspAccording to Watson, anti-Irish feeling was very strong at the time and the Irish were being blamed for spreading cholera.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspA group of vigilantes was roaming Pennsylvania looking for Irish to attack, particularly when the fear of cholera gripped the wider public in 1832.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspWatson said he believed the Pennsylvania and Columbia Railroad Company might have covered up the deaths to stop bad publicity, and to ensure that Irish workers were not frightened off from building more railroads.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe office of Rodger Rothenberger, coroner for Chester County where the mass grave is located, confirmed that they had been informed of the research and would help to investigate the causes of the men's deaths.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe 57 are buried at a site called Duffy's Cut, named after an Irish-born foreman who arranged work for the men only weeks before their deaths.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspWatson said he has convinced that the railroad company had hidden the men's deaths from the public.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp"These guys were very deliberately forgotten by the railroad and any record of the men was wiped out," he said.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp"We believe we can put this in the history books and we believe we can find the names of these men. We know that they came in June 1832 directly from Ireland. Now it's a matter of finding out who they were."
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad never publicly released accounts of the disaster, though accounts of troubled ghosts haunting the mass grave have been passed down in local folklore.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspAs late as 1909, the mysterious deaths continued to trouble the rail company. Its then president, Martin Clement, had a stone enclosure built around a nearby site where he believed the men were buried.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspHowever, he refused to have a memorial built. He also ordered all available information on the men to be taken away and stored in his office.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspWatson believes that Clement, a wealthy man with political ambition, was worried that the scandal might damage the rail company's reputation.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspHowever, Watson's grandfather, Joseph Tripician, was Clement's assistant and kept the file. Watson discovered it two years ago and became intrigued by the story.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspWatson said that that he still gets choked up when he thinks of the men's lives, and would like to find out their names before they are buried.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspThe pair believe they have uncovered the identity of Phillip Duffy, the men's foreman, who appeared to care little for the fate of his men.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp"We believe that Phillip Duffy is from Tipperary," said Watson.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp "We have a document saying that a Philip Duffy came in (to the U.S) after the war of 1812 and we believe this is our man. It's now a matter of time to go through the records and find young men who might have been recruited at the docks by Duffy.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp"We are flushing out his story as well. These men were expendable to him. He didn't care if these men lived and died. It's just incredible," he said.
Source: http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishinamerica/news/MysteryDeathsRailWorkers.asp

Philadelphia dig uncovers evidence of Irish workersBy Ray O'Hanlon rohanlon@irishecho.comThis story appeared in the issue of November 10-16, 2004 Irish Echo.

Make no bones about it, the past is buried here. But that past has yet to turned up any bones. However, the archeological team carrying out excavation work beside a Philadelphia suburban rail line are uncovering considerable evidence pointing to this place as being the spot where 57 Irish railroad workers worked and died in 1832.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Dr. William Watson of Immaculata University is leading the effort to find out whether the workers died of cholera or, in some cases, from deliberate negligence or violence from local vigilante groups.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp "We've found, incredibly, a piece of the track from 1832. It's very small and narrow and heavy," Watson said.
"We've recovered a lot of artifacts by means of metal detectors, including a belt buckle, a coin, pickaxes and all kinds of spikes and nails."
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The artifacts are being shipped to Pennsylvania's railroad museum near Starsburg for further examination.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp But what the slow-moving excavation is really searching for are the remains of the Irish rail workers.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp "No bones yet but we're confident we're going to find them," Watson said.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The burial site, in a place known as "Duffy's Cut" covers roughly an acre. The exact whereabouts of the remains of the Irish workers within the boundaries of the site is unknown, so the excavation will cover the entire area in some detail and also be extended to surrounding ground. The dig period is expected to last well into the fall.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Watson believes that some of the Irish workers might have been buried alive during the stage of cholera known as cold cholera. During this stage of the disease, it is possible to appear dead, though the individual is still alive.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp He also suspects that some may have been murdered by local vigilante groups violently hostile toward Irish immigrants.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp So far, however, the discoveries have all been of man-made items rather than the remains of men.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp "We've also found pitchforks and a cooking pot from the period," he said. "It was buried one-and-a-half feet down and looked like it had been crafted by a blacksmith."
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Separate to the excavation at Duffy's Cut, Watson and is team have been attempting to trace the arrival of the rail workers through shipping records for the port of Philadelphia.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp "We've uncovered records for the arrivals of eight ships in Philadelphia at the time, all carrying immigrants for Ireland," he said.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Most of the immigrants were natives of counties Tyrone, Derry and Donegal. "Almost all of the arrivals were skilled workers. Just one of the ships carried unskilled laborers," Watson said.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp It was a barque called the "John Stamp." Most of its passengers were from Donegal and Tyrone.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Watson believes it was this vessel that carried the ultimately doomed Irish rail workers across the Atlantic.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Looking deeper into the records, Watson said he would now be attempting to put names to the dead buried at Duffy's Cut.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Remains uncovered at the dig site will be studied by the county coroner's office and possibly by a cultural anthropologist from Ireland.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp There is also the possibility that facial reconstruction might be carried out if intact skulls are recovered.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp If all goes according to Watson's plan, the anonymous dead of Duffy's Cut will become known anew to a world that once paid them the scantest regard.